Travel Safety

Published by Melody Sunday on Jun 14th 2018

Millions of travelers will take to the roads and skies in
2018, especially during the summer. Visiting family, seeing landmarks and
historic sites, or activity trips full of tours, climbs and other physical
pursuits will draw many of us out of the comforts of our A/C. In a perfect world, all of us would be there
and back again with nothing but great memories. Unfortunately, our world
becomes increasingly imperfect and that weighs more on the minds of travelers
these days than ever before. How to keep yourself, and your family, safe in
unfamiliar territory?

Travel within the US often means a road trip. AAA recommends
that you always perform a safety check on your vehicle, even in normal
conditions. Checking your tires, lights, belts, hoses, fluids and wipers are especially
important when travelling long distance. If you get your tires from a major chain
that has branches or affiliate stores nationwide, be sure to keep the
information handy in your glovebox. If your tires are still under warranty, you
should be able to get any problems handled more easily and at a pro-rated cost
depending on the extent of the problem.

Travel abroad is still exciting and can be done on a budget.
Increasingly, where you go is the main concern.

The State Department has a plan to help monitor their
citizens while travelling or living abroad called the STEP Program. This program will alert
the local consulate you are travelling to their particular destination and give
you alerts to help plan. They can also contact you in an emergency situation.
If you haven’t needed to think about it before, or it’s been awhile since you
crafted a safety plan for travelling, consider brushing up with an online class
like Travel Heroes. This will update
your knowledge and give you a personalized, downloadable plan to take on your
next adventure.

Of course, keeping up with the latest TSA information and
knowing how early to get to the airport adds travel stress. You can apply for
TSA Precheck status, which will keep you from needing to go through the main
lines. With Precheck, there is no need to remove shoes, laptops, liquids or
light jackets before moving through screening. An in-person interview and
fingerprinting is required for approval, so make sure to start that process
well before you plan to travel at https://www.tsa.gov/precheck
It should also be noted that most, but not all, airlines and airports
participate. Look at the lists provided in the above link to determine if you
can use this service at your preferred destination(s).

Little things can make a big impact as well. Planning for avoiding stress at the accessory stage can help make your whole experience smoother. Dark luggage, sporty brands and possibly even
leather, look great being zipped across an airport terminal – by you and
thousands of other travelers! Nothing helps find your luggage faster than
to make sure you don't have to quickly check the tags of several bags going
round and round the belt because yours doesn’t look like anyone else’s. If you
already have luggage in good shape, unique ID tags, patches or other
modifications will help you to spot your bags quickly as they arrive.

Less is more when traveling. It is hard for some to do, but
especially what you carry on the plane should be minimal. The advice is to
never carry anything someone else asks you to and don’t leave luggage unattended.
The less you have to keep an eye on and the smaller your baggage, the less of a
target you become. As full as airlines stuff their planes these days, it’s also
great to know you might have a smidgen of leg room left in coach!

Wherever you decide to go, however you travel,
we at Zeckos hope you have a great time and come back with fun stories to tell
your friends and family. Feel free to send us photos of our products in action
through our Facebook or email us!